What is Truth?

Mark 10:13-16

April 20, 1997 PM

Rueben Ruebenhiemer B. A.*

Props: A large stone (?)

Two spongee balls

One or two philosophical balls**

Welcome to the first day of “What is Truth?” I am
assuming that you are in this class because you are already, or wish to become,
sure of something. I am sure of the Bible and I am sure that it speaks
truthfully and I am sure that through the Bible mankind may hear the gospel of
Jesus Christ and be saved. But why am I sure? Why am I willing to
risk my life on the writings of men long dead?

Because I am convinced that the Bible speaks the truth.

Mark 10:13-16 ~And they brought young children to
him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought
them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer
the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the
kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his
arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Before we begin it is important to recognize that Jesus is
not telling us to blindly put our trust in Him and believe all that He teaches.
When a child is told something by someone who is worthy of trust that thing is
believed unless at some other time it is disproved by fact. Jesus is
saying that we may accept the reality of the promised kingdom of heaven simply
because He has said that it exists and that we, upon belief in His name, have
become citizens of that kingdom. He is trustworthy and what He teaches may
be believed without question just as a child believes his or her parents without
question.

Throw out two real balls so that students realize that there
is something to catch then throw out the philosophical ball(s) and compare the
two types of balls.

Ultimately there is no difference between the balls, within
the context of this lecture, other than one type has an actual physical
presence, while the other type...doesn’t. We are able to discuss the
texture, weight, appearance, and other attributes of each type of ball.
If, however, we took both types of ball and placed them before an external
observer he would only consider the type that has a physical presence as real.
When confronted by our internal supposition of the existence of a non-physical
type of ball this observer would say that we are crazy, pretending, or suffering
a mass hallucination. Yet for us the truth of the existence of a
philosophical ball cannot be disputed.

John 8:45 ~And because I tell you the truth, ye
believe me not.

We too may be telling those we meet the truth but, if Jesus
Himself was not believed, it is more than likely that we too will often be
laughed at.

Because, just as in Jesus’ day, all times have had and do
have their own alternate versions of the truth. The principle alternate
truth in our day and age is that the theory of evolution is a valid foundation
upon which to build a culture. For like it or not much of our current
culture is built on, and developed from the logical conclusions of this theory.

Neither the Bible nor the theory of evolution can be true if
the other is true. They are mutually exclusive arguments, regardless of
what the experts say. Similarly, religions that believe that each man is
reincarnated through infinite cycles until they reach perfection are contrary to
the Bible which states:

Hebrews 9:27 ~And it is appointed unto men once to
die, but after this the judgment:

One or the other is true but both cannot be true together.

The purpose of this series of lectures will not only be to
allow each of you to determine for yourself what is and what is not true, using
the tools that will be presented in subsequent weeks, but also to demonstrate
that the Bible, as God’s own revelation of Himself, is truth and directs us to
the ultimate truth of God. Taking the theory of evolution as our primary
target, since it is the major force opposing Christ in our age, we will
demonstrate various approaches to the truth.

We all have presuppositions.

Evolution is an attempt to scientifically discover the origin
of all that exists based on the presupposition that God does not exist.

Subsequent theories presented from the church capitulate the
truth of the Bible. The Gap Theory, the Day/Age Theory, the Theory of
Theistic Evolution, all indicate a caving in of Christian thought to scientific
process.

Science performs very well when evaluating situations that
are repeatable. That is, in fact, the foundation of the scientific method:
Repeatability.

The origin of all that is not, however, a repeatable event
and cannot therefore be discussed strictly as science. The postulated
lengths of time are too incredible to give any hope of proving or disproving the
theory of evolution in the laboratory. Evolution also fails to fit the
world: It cannot explain the origin of our concepts of morality, good vs.
evil, humour, etc., or even adequately consider why we are able to think.

The theory of evolution was constructed within the process it
attempts to define, the process cannot be proven from the inside.

A Witness external to the process must be called upon.

God, through His Spirit, wrote the Bible.

The Bible records:

Genesis 1:1 ~In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.

The Bible accurately describes the world, it fits what we see
about us.

Every test conceivable shows that the Bible speaks
truthfully. It may not be a scientific treatise but where it considers
scientific inquiry it speaks truthfully. It may not be a book of history
but where it considers history it speaks truthfully. It may not be a book
of geography but where it considers geography it speaks truthfully. More
important than any other reason God speaks to man through the Bible by means of
His Spirit. We can trust the Bible for its author is perfect.

* Rueben E. Ruebenhiemer B. A. is a character that I played occasionally at
Pickering Standard Church, the B. A. stands for Bible Analyst

** For the un-initiated philosophical balls are what children
would refer to as "pretend" balls